SALINA, N.Y. — The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities (SOSFNC) on Tuesday announced that it closed NunBetter Chocolates and Custom Gift Baskets on April 16 after more than 20 years of operation.
NunBetter has been located at 6900 Buckley Road in the town of Salina since 2014.
General Minister Sister Jeanne Weisbeck called the closing a “bittersweet decision,” but it makes it possible for shop director Sister Jane Bourne to enter a new ministry. It also allows for renovations to the building that houses the shop.
Sister Jane’s primary goal in opening NunBetter was to provide meaningful activities for the senior Sisters who had retired from active ministry and to make it possible for them to contribute to the community’s “financial well-being,” per the SOSFNC news release.
With the shop closing, Sister Jane will serve the Sisters in Central New York as one of several ministers responsible for the Sisters’ “spiritual, physical and emotional” well-being. She begins that ministry in June.
NunBetter earned a loyal clientele of individuals and companies throughout the years, SOSFNC said.
“We thank Sister Jane for her dedication to NunBetter and the senior Sisters who worked with her. Our entire community of Sisters thanks the customers who helped make NunBetter such a sweet success,” Weisbeck said.
About SOSFNC
The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities was formed in 2004 when several communities of Franciscan Sisters in Syracuse, Hastings-on-Hudson, and Williamsville united.
They later were joined by the Sisters of St. Francis in Millvale, Pennsylvania.
The community now has more than 250 Sisters in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Mexico, Illinois, Texas, Washington, DC, Hawaii and Peru. The community headquarters are in Syracuse.